Angela´s ashes

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This is Frank’s story of his childhood. He grew up in Ireland in the 1930´s, and life was not easy. His father was unfortunately a drinker, and that made life even harder for the family. Frank all the time wants life to get better for his family, and the ultimate dream is to earn enough money to afford the fare and go to USA.
All the time when I read this book, I was wondering why Frank’s father never tried to stop drinking. He really loved his family, without any doubt. When he would get his wage, he immediately went to the pub, and the family would not get any money for food and clothing. I cannot understand him, why does he not at least try? And it all goes worse further on.
The book takes place in Ireland, and a little bit in USA, I feel like I am walking down the lane with Frank when he tells me the story, and I really like the way he describe the surroundings for the reader. It is very important for the book.

Frank himself is a clever boy. He tries to be an altar boy, but the church shut the door right on his face, when they see that he is poor. He tries to get into the secondary school, (even though he would rather work and earn some money to his family) but the church again shuts the door, and Frank does no longer trust priests.
If anything happens while Frank and his brothers are playing, Frank gets the guilt. He is not like his brother Malachy, who is cute and funny. Frank has to take more responsibility, and he is more serious than any of his brothers.
Frank’s mother is Angela, she takes care of them as well as she can, but it is not easy when you do not have any money. She is at home all the time, and I wonder why she does not try to get a job, so that she can give the family an income. I know that women did not earn so much money; nevertheless, other women are working. She does have small children, but not all the time; why does she not try to get a job when she can?

The storyteller is Frank. He tells us the story of his unusually poor childhood, and how it made him become what he is today. Everything I told as it is happening at this very minute, in a first-person view. I think it is extremely fascinating that Frank can remember so much of his childhood. Maybe he has made some things up, but I still think it is impressing altogether. He remembers so many things from when he was three years old, I could never remember so much. Perhaps it is because everything was so hard, that they really had fight to survive. I have not been forced to do that, and maybe you do not remember so much when you were happy.

Frank grows throughout the book. In the beginning he is three, and when he leaves us he is nineteen. All through the book he develop, and from a little child, he becomes a man. You can also notice it in the language. From the beginning a three years old boy is telling you the story of his life, and he does not understand so much of the world around him, but all after the year passes by, becomes a man. It does not live an angel, bringing babies, on the seventh step. It is just a story. Frank was born in USA from the beginning, but they went to Ireland when his parents got very depressed because of their little sister’s death. In the beginning he thinks everyone are talking very funny in Ireland, though he speaks an American English.
This Irish makes the language a bit strange. I found some words that seemed to be almost ordinary English, however there was something that just was not right. It could even be a totally different word from the English word, when I finally found it in the dictionary.
Almost everyone talks with a dialect. That can make it even harder to understand.
I think Frank McCourt wanted people to see how bad life was in Ireland in the 1930’s, and not to judge people only by their appearance.

I really liked this book, in the beginning it was a bit slow, but after a while it got quite fascinating. It felt as if I was there with Frank, ...